Tonic Trouble, low-res pixel style!
You know, they never explain why Suzy is purple when she’s supposed to be the daughter of the Doc, a normal human (well apart from the pervasive limblessness, but everyone has that). Maybe she was exposed to some of the Doc’s weird science, or she could be an adopted alien. Or even half alien on her mother’s side. You decide!
Ed, Suzy, The Doc, Agent Xyz, Grögh
Just like Rayman 1 and 2, Tonic Trouble had a Game Boy Color version. Actually, this one came first and released around six months after the N64 version, whereas they came years after their progenitors. It was handled by a company called RFX Interactive and was in fact their first game. I was expecting a similar experience to said Rayman handheld titles, but it was not to be.
Tonic Trouble GBC runs on a completely different engine to those games. It has larger sprites, a wonkier camera and unlockable abilities (like its parent game). Of course, the GBC has even less buttons than the N64, so switching between the stick, blowpipe, magic wand/chameleon powder, and pogo stick requires opening and closing the Select menu which is clunky, especially in the final level since the blowpipe is required for combat but does not allow jumping. At least the pogo stick gets more use for traversal in this version. Ed also has a ledge grab ability—handy but not perfectly reliable—and can run by double-tapping the D-pad, which is not necessary but helps in backtracking for collectibles or switches.
The number of levels is cut back compared to the main game, and it ends up being very short in total. Each world has 3 smallish areas, which are often sort of free-roaming, with collectibles to find requiring platforming and combat both vertically and horizontally. It works pretty well, but enemy placement, large sprites, and spotty hit detection makes it very difficult at times—I made heavy use of savestates, naturally.
The large sprites allow for more detail and it looks pretty nice if a bit muddy at times, with lots of colour befitting its source material. The music is a tad more melodic but nothing special and still forgettable. An interesting point of comparison though in the conversion is the boss fights. Some are decent smaller renditions of setpieces from the main game, but others make use of enemies seen in cutscenes or artwork but not fought, such as the living capsicum or Grögh’s pharmacist. Good stuff!
Unfortunately the plot suffers on the GBC platform. Suzy is missing, Grögh has no presence apart from the final moments, the purpose of Doc’s collectibles is not even explained. At least Agent Xyz has gets an ugly full-frame portrait with advice and exposition. I suppose in those days the manual would be a crutch, but it hasn’t been scanned that I could find.
So it’s a reasonably competent little down-porting job, but probably surpassed by the Rayman GBC demakes that followed it. Fair enough, they were done by different companies. It was early days for Ubisoft’s handheld games. It is a little amateurish and small in scope, befitting a small company’s first game, but I can forgive dodgy execution because it was over quickly. Hm, is that really a good thing? Regardless, if nothing else getting to fight the Pharmacist justifies this game’s existence. Just expect frustration if you’re not allowing yourself an emulator’s conveniences.
EDIT: I forgot to mention a feature I couldn’t experience. Ubisoft’s GBC games often had a “Ubikey”; where by collecting a key in-game and then connecting to another Ubikey-enabled game via the GBC infrared port, you could unlock stuff—in this case, a bonus level. Since I don’t have access to the hardware, it’s a feature that’s lost to the ages… game preservation is a struggle sometimes.
I can finally get my Rayman series playthrough back on track after getting a decent N64 emulator working (Sixtyforce, requires registration). Try as I might, the PC versions just weren’t working for me. So Tonic Trouble then.
From what I’ve heard, Tonic Trouble was a test of sorts for the 3D engine that would power Rayman 2. Whether this is true or not, the games share much of their DNA and end up feeling very similar in atmosphere, gameplay, and music. Not to mention pervasive limblessness. It’s also established that they share a universe, with the General (“Mission accomplished. Sheer perfection.”) from Tonic Trouble’s FMV intro (in the PC version, not this one) appearing late in Rayman 2 to sell the Grolgoth to Razorbeard. Rayman also has a minor cameo or two in this game.
Tonic Trouble is more brightly coloured and cartoon-esque in its design and animation, but can still switch to dark, gloomy environments just like its successor. It does play up the surreal though, due to the effects of the mutagenic can as part of its plot, which gives it elements reminiscent of the first Rayman game as well as Origins. In fact one of the worlds, the Glacier Cocktail, is eerily similar to the icy parts of Gourmand Land in Origins and related games (Legends, Fiesta Run) with its large citrus slices among ice blocks.
But what about the gameplay? This is very much an early 3D platformer with all that entails. Levels are brief and linear with some hidden secrets, but fairly well designed I suppose. You unlock new abilities after each world, but each one has awkward controls associated with it; it doesn’t help that the N64 controller actually has not many buttons after the C buttons are used up on camera control. The gliding move especially is difficult to master, but they make a good attempt to base a level around it which feels very similar to Rayman 2′s lava sanctuary. Combat is not as smooth as Rayman 2, but it’s more puzzley and comes with fakey martial arts vocalisations from Ed, as part of the game’s mildly-lame wacky humour aesthetic. The final boss too is a nice multi-stage fight which uses most of the acquired abilities.
There’s a few oddities about this game that should be addressed. There are popcorn machines that briefly transform you to a muscleman to solve puzzles; inexplicably, they’re labelled with the logo for Newman’s Own brand of salad dressing and so forth. The PC version instead advertises Nestle Crunch. There’s also a beta version that was given out before the release of the game, which you will often find (named “Special Edition”) if you’re looking for the PC version. For the record, the PC version seems identical to the N64 one but with a graphical upgrade and voice acting; the beta version on the other hand is vastly different. Beyond merely lacking a jumping animation, there’s many level designs and concepts, collectibles, and enemies that were changed or unused for the final game. I couldn’t play it myself or find a full video playthrough but if you can, it’s worth trying both out.
Tonic Trouble was fine; I had fun with it, it’s pretty short so it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s a bit basic, the characters can be cliche, and the music aside from the main theme is forgettable. But it has heart. French heart. If you like Rayman and especially Rayman 2, there’s a good chance you’ll find something to like here. Now I’m off to play the Game Boy Color version.
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